The Conservative caucus may have chosen Andrew Scheer to lead the party in Parliament during the spring session, but that doesn’t mean the Tory’s interim pick is keen to relocate to Stornoway, the official residence of the Opposition leader.
The Saskatchewan MP has been appointed to temporarily assume the parliamentary duties of Pierre Poilievre while the Conservative leader attempts to regain a seat in the House of Commons.
Poilievre lost his Carleton riding on election night, a seat he has held since 2004. His election loss has led to speculation about whether he would need to vacate Stornoway, the house he and his family have called home since shortly after he assumed leadership of the Conservative Party in 2022.
The government-owned residence is intended for the leader of the official Opposition, a role that can only be assumed by a sitting MP, according to the Official Residences Act.
Scheer told CBC’s Power & Politics this week that “discussions are still ongoing” about who should live at Stornoway, but the interim leader did not appear keen to evict Poilievre’s family from the official residence.
“It does cost a lot of taxpayers money to move somebody out, move somebody in, just to move them out, just move somebody in again,” he said. “My own view on this is whatever is the most efficient, the most cost effective for Canadian taxpayers. We don’t want this to add any extra burden.”
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Privy Council Office spokesperson Daniel Savoie said in an email that while the official residence is designated for leader of the official Opposition, it will be up to the Conservative Party to decide who lives there.
“Any questions on how the Conservative Party will manage its leadership in the House of Commons in the future, and therefore who will reside at the official residence, should be directed to the Conservative Party,” Savoie added.
Byelection In Works
The party’s primary objective right now is to ensure their leader’s swift return to the House of Commons through an upcoming byelection, Scheer said.
“The most important thing for us is, we want Pierre to have a seat back in the House of Commons as quickly as possible,” Scheer said. “We expect to take Mr. Carney at his word. He’s promised to do this very quickly. So we anticipate that this is just an eight-to-12-week scenario and whatever decisions are made around office space and residences and things like that, in the grand scheme of things, will be moot very quickly.”
Alberta MP Damien Kurek has offered to resign in his riding of Battle River-Crowfoot to give the party leader a chance to run again. The riding is a longtime Tory stronghold which Kurek won with 81.8 percent of the vote.
Kurek’s resignation cannot be made official right away, however. Under Canadian law, an MP cannot resign until their election results are officially confirmed and free from legal disputes, which typically takes at least 30 days.
MPs can resign by submitting a resignation letter to the Speaker of the House that has been witnessed by two others, or by announcing it in Parliament if the House is in session. Once the resignation is received, the Speaker will declare the seat vacant and cabinet has 180 days to issue a writ for a byelection.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has said he will announce the date of the byelection once Kurek’s resignation is official, adding that he has already informed Poilievre he would not delay holding a byelection.
“I will ensure that it happens as soon as possible,” Carney said on May 2. “No games, nothing.”
The byelection campaign must run for at least 36 days as set out in the Canada Elections Act.
Should Poilievre secure victory in Battle River-Crowfoot it seems that this will serve as a temporary constituency for the Tory leader.
Scheer said Kurek will run in the Alberta riding in the next general election, but did not say where Poilievre would seek a seat.
“I don’t have an answer for you right now on where that might be,” he said. “But I’m sure as the next election comes closer that we’ll be making those kinds of announcements.”
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
